Mikhail Kuzmin has been managing his own projects since 2010. From then on, he co-founded three companies in the analytics field: Biarch, a brand that customizes CRM and automates reports; Xtree, a startup that supplies analytics for the sales department; and Scont, a solutions developer for improving customer service and controlling the cash register area.
Mikhail talked about how he came from managing franchises to working with Power BI, how quality analytics has gone beyond corporations and changed small and medium-sized businesses, and why the same big data solutions are positioned and promoted differently in global markets.
Mikhail, you have been an entrepreneur for over ten years. Can you tell us where you started?
My education is far removed from both analytics and business. In 2009, I graduated from the Moscow Institute of Engineering and Technology with a degree in Engineering physics.
At first, I worked in my specialty at state enterprises, at FMBA and Rosatom, but after 2.5 years, I became disillusioned with the efficiency of state companies and went into business. I developed franchises of «Mosigra» and the international pizza chain «Dodo Pizza». I attracted investments, opened retail outlets and, was involved in marketing, and learned a lot about business needs. In particular, the need for quality analytics and transparent reporting.
In 2017, I co-founded Biarch. We were one of the first in Russia to automate reporting based on Microsoft's Power BI—we showed how easy it was to upload useful information from CRM. And we changed the perception of analytics as a field in which only big business plays.
In 2021, Xtree started—a subscription-based business intelligence platform for sales departments. And we also launched Scont—a startup—system of remote service quality control for retail and services.
Can you tell us more about your companies? What do they do?
Biarch creates technical requirements and customization of CRM and Power BI. We help businesses get transparent performance data and improve the efficiency of business processes. We do end-to-end analytics, marketing, and financial reports and analyze CRM data. Biarch implements more than 50 projects for clients from CIS, USA, and Israel.
Thanks to Biarch, Xtree also appeared. The product of Xtree is a large universal report that can be customized for a specific sales department using filters. The idea was born out of a market need: we often had to build reports for salespeople from scratch. So, we tried to create a standard solution that would suit most clients.
Thanks to the understanding of business needs, Scont—a service that uses computer vision technology to help monitor the work of employees in the checkout area—was born. The idea to develop a digital mystery shopper actually came much earlier: the Scont pilot, which we then called Salescontrol and successfully tested together with Dodo Pizza franchisees, was launched back in 2019. Then, I left the project for a couple of years and devoted all my energies to Biarch. And only in 2021 did I return to the startup with fresh ideas and strength.
At Scont, we have combined modern technology with our analytics expertise. Using cameras and audio badges, we analyze the work of retail and service employees and visualize the data in Power BI. Customers receive a convenient and informative report, which they can use to improve service, taking into account the system of material and non-material motivation. We select criteria for evaluation individually, taking into consideration the specifics of the business: employee friendliness, product knowledge, pre-sales, and other important factors.
Scont increases the average check by 10–15%, makes offline work transparent, and even helps train new employees. The client can offer a newcomer to analyze the work of colleagues, find mistakes, and suggest solutions. Integration of Scont into the onboarding process speeds up the introduction of a new employee from 10–14 to 3–5 days.
Today Scont is used by 300 clients in Russia and around the world, including large chains such as «M.Video», «Dodo Pizza», and «Sushkoff». The goal for the near future is to bring the product to the American market. In December this year, we have already taken an important step: we registered a company in the USA.
Tell us a little bit about the role of the manager. Were you responsible for the idea? Were you in charge of operations? Did you help promote brands?
In all three companies, my role was similar: I was involved in creating the idea and developing the project, making and implementing the marketing strategy, attracting investment, and creating information products, one of which was a joint course with Skillbox called «Director of Customer Service». I was a speaker at events related to analytics, IT, and sales. In Biarch, I also supervised foreign clients.
And to develop Scont, I was engaged in content marketing, launching the company's blog in the media for digital specialists and VC entrepreneurs. Within a year, the blog brought the business 20% of sales. Considering that the production of articles was not systematic, this is a good result.
Were there any challenges at the beginning of the journey? If yes, which ones?
Yes, absolutely. With my «flagship» Biarch business, for example, the main challenge at the start was the high price of analytics. At that time, only large businesses could afford off-the-shelf solutions. Small and medium-sized enterprises used «self-descriptions» to upload data, which were seriously inferior in terms of efficiency.
To enter medium and small businesses, we developed standard reports—we used Power BI and showed that you can easily get data from CRM and visualize it. Biarch analytics helped entrepreneurs see basic flaws in processes: errors in data, in the CRM system. We became known in the market as a company that can do analytics for reasonable money. For the Russian market in 2018, this was a big step forward, and for us, it was a huge incentive for further development. Biarch quickly became known in the circle of CRM and Power Bi integrators. And the project team gradually grew from 2 to 50 employees.
Do you participate in events dedicated to analytics?
Yes, of course, both local and international, dedicated not only to analytics but also to major IT trends and successful sales. And in 2021, we organized our own professional event: the largest analytics conference, Power BI Russia.
The value of such events is not only in the opportunity to talk about your company and share your experience. It is also a great chance to meet leading experts. In 2019, for example, the Biarch team participated in a hackathon on end-to-end analytics based on Microsoft Power BI. The jury included market leaders—experts from Microsoft Mail. It's hard to describe what we felt when they named us winners.
Biarch works with clients from Israel, the USA, and Russia. Are there any specifics in working with them?
Yes, of course. American companies usually have a clear list of needs that they want to close with analytics. And if you have already started cooperating, you are fully trusted as professionals.
The Russian market is a little different—the culture of using analytical tools in small and medium-sized businesses is only just emerging. Entrepreneurs have yet to understand their goals and needs to realize the value of analytics.
In the USA, the customer is immersed in working with analytics: if he has invested money in it, he will definitely use it and evaluate its effectiveness. But Russian entrepreneurs sometimes simply follow the trend: they can buy unnecessary functionality. Or delegate integration to a manager who is not at all invested in the process and does not understand its importance.
At the same time, as suppliers, it is important to us that our product brings value. That is why we strive to educate our clients to select solutions individually, taking into account the needs and specifics of the business. And gradually develop a culture of using analytics—to motivate them not just to connect «trendy» solutions, but to learn how to use the information obtained through analytical systems to improve business results.
How has analytics changed during your tenure? Can you point out any trends?
I would say that analytics itself has not changed. But its value has changed dramatically: we have seen drastic changes and the democratization of technology. We have observed how the collection and processing of big data is gradually becoming available not only to corporations but also to the widest possible range of entrepreneurs.
But in the case of the Russian market, unfortunately, we have seen the opposite process. In 2022, the leading vendors left the Russian market—although this did not become a barrier to the use of analytical tools, it significantly increased the cost of analytics.
Many companies, against the background of sanctions, have gone back several years—to self-written solutions, which require expensive services of data specialists and 2–3 months for development and launch.
The interview was conducted by Alyona Gaponova.
